In Forrester’s B2B Brand And Communications Survey, we ask B2B marketing leaders to share their perspective on anticipated budget changes in 12 program and personnel categories. This year’s responses show expected increases are up in most categories over last year and expected decreases have dropped in most categories. Several notable trends emerged, shedding light on the evolving landscape of brand and communications budgets.
Digital Continues To Dominate
Although nearly all program categories are experiencing planned budget increases, digitally-centric programs stand out with the most significant growth. Why does digital continue to dominate? For one, the COVID pandemic accelerated digital adoption among business buyers, leading to self-directed purchasing behaviors. Second, millennials, a digitally-savvy group, now form the largest B2B buying audience.
Marketing leaders are responding to these changing dynamics in buying behavior as seen in the trend of continued investments in digital brand and communications experiences. In our survey data, we see 10 points of growth in respondents expecting to increase both website/digital program and headcount investments compared to 2023. Creative services, content creation and operations also sees substantial increases in those expecting higher budgets as it plays a crucial role in providing personalized and targeted assets and thought leadership that feed digital channels. We also see a 12-point increase in those expecting social media program budgets to be on the rise, as compared to last year.
Corporate Events Reflect A Dichotomy of Decisions
Despite speculation about the pandemic’s impact of whether corporate events would bounce back, 47% of respondents plan to increase spending on corporate events, supporting the value of in-person brand experiences. However, corporate events also rises near the top of the lists for both expected program and headcount budget decreases. The contrast shows the desire to capitalize on in-person brand experiences that build relationships with people throughout the business ecosystem, but through a more targeted and selective approach.
Advertising Budgets Are At Risk
Corporate advertising tops the list of planned program budget and headcount budget decreases. 22% of respondents intend to reduce ad spend in 2024. Even among those planning ad spend increases, growth has stalled year-over-year.
B2B marketers must embrace a digital strategy as changing buyer behaviors require a balance of both digital and in-person experiences. Forrester clients can find the full year-over-year results in our report: B2B Brand and Communications Programs Budget And Personnel Changes, 2024. View additional research by Karen Tran and Ian Bruce, or schedule a call with us today.